


Tinselwolf

by wynnebat



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter Hale, Christmas, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Scott Bashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 08:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12955077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: Stiles collects on a deal, Peter suffers, and everyone’s ridiculously in love.





	Tinselwolf

**Author's Note:**

> Written for steternetwork's [December prompt](http://steternetwork.tumblr.com/post/168114745505/december-2017-prompt), holiday cheer/fails.

For about a minute, Stiles does try to go back to sleep. It's the perfect atmosphere for sleep: earlier than he'd usually wake up on a Saturday, warm under their thick winter blankets, a chill in the air since Peter prefers sleeping in a cold room and Stiles doesn't care one way or the other. Peter's sprawled out on his stomach next to Stiles, his face turned toward him and his body only half covered by the blankets. The sight of Peter's messy bedhead never fails to make him smile, and Stiles rolls onto his side and runs his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. Peter's grown his out in the past few years, while Stiles got nostalgic about his old buzz cut a month ago.

A garbled growl makes its way out of Peter's throat. Without opening his eyes, Peter mumbles, "Go back to sleep."

"Can't," Stiles says, keeping his voice quiet. The sound only has to travel the few inches between their faces. "There's too much to do today."

"Mm," Peter replies, but he finally blinks open his eyes. "Don't even attempt to drag me into your plans. I have a quiet day in to look forward to."

"You are literally the Grinch." Stiles huffs at Peter's responding sleepy grin. "I don't know how else you expected me to react to the fact that Isaac and Jackson still haven't bought a Christmas tree for their apartment."

"I liked it better when you hated both of them," Peter mutters, but there's no bite in his words.

"Hey, I had to work hard to reform my feelings about those two assholes. I should be able to reap the benefits." A year and a half after Stiles had graduated from college and moved back to Beacon Hills, Isaac and Jackson had found their way back to their hometown, Jackson coming from England and Isaac from France. Now, five months since their arrival, Stiles has succeeded in making nice with two of the few people who'd shared in the actual hell Stiles' high school years had been. And more importantly, two people who actually came back to this stupid town after all the blood it had drained from of them years ago.

Beacon Hills had driven out the rest of Stiles' old friend group. Stiles' choices had, too, but he's still blaming it seventy-five percent on the town. It's better now—Stiles had fucking made sure of it—but that doesn't mean he isn't still bitter sometimes about how much blood and tears it had taken to un-hellmouth this place. Stiles might have left the town for good, honestly, had it not been for Peter and his dad.

Still, Jackson and Isaac are cute. "It's their first Christmas living together. You saw how they were being all weird about it and pretending they didn't care about silly things like the utter joy of walking into your house and seeing your tree all lit up and pretty."

"We've certainly never had that problem," Peter says, but his smile is fond.

Stiles would kiss him, but he can almost taste his morning breath. That 3 am snack really hadn't been worth it. "Don't front, I saw the ornament-shaped cookie cutter you ordered. Tell me you're making shortbread."

"Only for you," Peter says, all put upon.

God, Stiles loves him. He's kinda hoping this is the last Christmas he's spending with Peter as his boyfriend instead of his husband, but he's still trying to figure out how to ask if Peter wants to get started on the vague future plans they sometimes talk about. But before that, there's something Stiles needs to do.

"After I get back from tree hunting, I want to call in my favor," Stiles says. The words come out a little seriously, too much like he's been thinking about it for a while, which isn't untrue.

Neither of them has mentioned it since the moment they'd struck their deal, but Stiles knows Peter hasn't forgotten it. It's obvious in the way Peter stills for a second, the way any lingering sleepiness fades from his gaze. "Of course. What are we doing?"

"I need you for a couple hours. Maybe the next day, too, if we don’t finish in time," Stiles says instead of explaining. "I'll tell you what we're doing when I get back."

There's something calculating in Peter's gaze. "So that I don't run for the hills in the meantime?"

"Maybe," Stiles admits.

"Is there anything I should prepare?"

"Nope. It's nothing strenuous or complicated," Stiles says, smiling at the irritated look Peter gives him. It's only going to get worse as the day goes on, he thinks with some glee. Peter deserves it; there are so many worse things Stiles could ask of him. He should be thanking Stiles, really.

Stiles jumps out of bed before Peter can start interrogating him and he's out the door in ten minutes. To soften the force of his holiday cheer on his friends, Stiles grabs some breakfast for all three of them. Finding the perfect Christmas tree is serious business, and so is buying tinsel and ornaments. Stiles can't do anything about the fact that all of Isaac and Jackson's ornaments will be new and store-bought instead of brimming with memories, but he can't do anything about it. Jackson just shrugs and says his parents' tree had always been put up by their housekeeping service and their ornaments had been matching bulbs in three colors. When Isaac says, "Dad never let us do Christmas growing up," Stiles quietly slips away to give them some privacy and comes back after a while with a giant wreath.

Despite his enthusiasm, Stiles spends the morning becoming easily distracted, his thoughts circling back to his plans for later that day. The Stiles who had made his deal with Peter would've never imagined how it would be carried out. That Stiles had been so young, and yet he'd been resolute in the decision that had to be made. Beacon Hills had needed a certain kind of alpha, the kind of alpha Stiles could work with instead of against, the kind that could save the town from itself.

 _I can make you an alpha again,_ Stiles had said. He hadn’t added _if you want_ because he'd known Peter had. _You_ _’ll owe me a favor, no questions asked. One day I'll come to collect it._ Maybe it should've been a secretive midnight meeting, but Stiles had proposed it in the middle of the day, the summer sun shining high above them as Stiles chose his side.

That favor, sealed in blood and oath, had been Stiles' insurance policy in the coming months. He'd needed some kind of leverage to make sure Peter didn't go off the rails again. Stiles had trusted him—he wouldn't have made Peter an alpha again if he hadn't—but it had been a conditional sort of trust. He and Peter spent the next few years arguing and agreeing and building something real.

The town hadn't erupted into civil war; he and Scott had found a way to have two packs in Beacon Hills. And by the time Stiles and Scott were ready to leave for college, Peter had cornered most of the town for himself. Stiles hadn't tried to stop him. Stiles may not be a werewolf, but he was still Peter’s favorite beta even back then.

He's long known that the favor will never be able to be of the same magnitude as what he'd given Peter. Partly because the alpha power meant more to Peter than Stiles had truly realized back then, but also because there isn't anything Stiles needs to ask for. They call the same place home; their lives have been intertwined for years (and years to come, if Stiles has his way). Maybe one day, something will come up where Stiles will actually want to twist Peter's arm, but Stiles doesn't want it done this way. So he settles on something that he really wants but Peter wouldn't do if he had another choice. Like Peter's alpha power, it will last for years and will bring Stiles joy every time he thinks of it. And really, that's all he wants out of this life they've created for themselves.

That and the resigned horror Peter looks at him with when Stiles tells him the terms of their deal. But his boyfriend bears it with grace, returning to the living room while Stiles sets up his supplies. Peter sits down in front of the tree, his wolf form so much bigger than a regular wolf would be.

"Just angle a bit more toward the fireplace, the lighting will be— There! That's perfect," Stiles says. He rearranges the ornaments on the tree to bring his favorites into the frame. The best positions go to the few ornaments they'd found in the Hale family vault, put away for storage by Talia years and years ago. He steps back, nearly knocking into the easel he'd set up. Peter chuffs at him with mirth, but there's still something missing from the picture. Stiles reaches for the box next to the easel and pulls out a long strand of tinsel. Peter's mirth vanishes, but the silver tinsel looks perfect draped around Peter's dark fur.

"Make sure to smile!” Stiles says. Peter opens his mouth to show off some vicious fangs. Despite all the tinsel, he looks terrifying. Stiles just can’t help the, “I love you,” that slips out. He kisses Peter’s wolfy nose, running his hand along the top of his boyfriend's furry head.

It doesn’t change Peter’s murderous look, something softens in Peter’s eyes all the same.

“Now hold still,” Stiles says with a grin and shifts his easel to the best position. His paint set is already in place, imbued over the past month with Stiles’ magic. He’s going all out, Harry Potter-style. And if that means he’s not going to be able to leave the painting where anyone who’s not in the know could see it, Stiles doesn’t think Peter’s going to complain. His holiday playlist is playing, the lighting is perfect, and his poor subject is a prisoner for the next few hours. Stiles’ holiday cheer is going to be unstoppable this year.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr as @[crownwithoutstones](https://crownwithoutstones.tumblr.com/).


End file.
